The Kleb's (and Scott's) Windsurfing Trailer Projects

Background

So, we had a 1977 Jeep Wagoneer with no trim pieces, holes in the roof, primer, and rust. We could walk on its 14 gauge steel body without care. We let the dog run wild over it's beautiful, faded finish. Strapping board to the roof was not a problem when you can stand on the top of the car with your sandy feet.

Then one season, the rear tailgate hinges rusted out and the valve guides become sick. Upon starting, the Jeep would spew a most impressive oil cloud and we were never sure that we could close or open the back tailgate on any given outing. The faithful Jeep was too old to fulfill its duty as a reliable form of transportation.

We bought another Wagoneer (pictured above) that was a little more that a decade younger. It had a nice paint job, trim, and no primer showing. We were no longer allowed to walk on the roof and now realized why everyone complained about strapping boards to the top of their vehicles in 40 knots of wind.

Design Philosophy

It seems that there are two basic paths one can follow:

Mobile storage shed (everything fully enclosed)
Mobile storage box with racks (boards exposed)

We obviously chose the former. Following are a list of other things that we considered at one time or another. Unfortunately we didn't write them down and rank them. If we had, we might not have forgotten about the importance of "tracking" (see "Beach Access" below).

Security: How easy it is for a "casual" thief to steal things while the trailer is stored or at the sailing site. Do you have to have a key to lock/unlock things?
Size: What are you planning to stow inside/outside? Will you have any room for future purchases, or a friend's gear? Will the trailer be in the wake of your tow vehicle? Will it be effected by strong cross winds? Do you want to be able to see through/over your gear/trailer out the rear window. Do you want to leave your sails rigged? What is the maximum width allowed on the roads that you will be using?
Weight: What can your tow vehicle handle? Do you want to be able to use an alternate, possibly smaller, tow vehicle occasionally? Will you be able to use Radial or Biased-ply tires? Will you need to maneuver the trailer around by yourself on soggy grass or deep sand?
Access: How easy is it to put a board in/on the trailer in 50 knot cross winds, i.e, can you use both hands to hold the board, do you have to hold on the board by one end, do you have to hold it down when tying it down, does it have to put on something over your head, etc. Do you have enough doors? Are they in good locations? Most importantly: where will your cooler go?
Organization: Will you have to run circles around your trailer every time you rig-up? Will you have to take-off your fins to store boards? Will your footstraps have to be crushed to fit? Will you have to remove some things to get at other things?
Sunlight: UV light eventually degrades nearly any substance. Are you going to keep the trailer in a protected area?
Maintenance: What will you have to repaint every X years? What parts do you want to be easy to maintain, and what parts do you want to be virtually maintenance free? How easy is it to re-grease the trailer's hubs? If you break down away from home, will you be able to get spare parts?
Environment: Simply: are you going to be around salty water? Aluminum corrodes, steel rusts, wood rots.
Tongue Weight: Can it be adjusted if necessary?
Beach Access: If you are planing on driving on the beach (necessary for some locations at Hatteras), the tow vehicle has a much easier time if the trailer wheels are tracking in the ruts created by the tow vehicle. Maybe you are willing to unhook the trailer, and take only what you need (yeah, right) for that session. Overall weight, tire size, and tire type are also important factors.
Ventilation: Do you have enough? Do the openings allow critters to get in and make a nest out of your favorite 5.2 wave sail? Does the box become an oven during a sunny day?
Construction: What is you time/money worth to you? What type of materials do you enjoy working with? Can you convert an existing boat or utility trailer to your needs? Will you have to custom "fit" your box around the wheels?

Specifications

The trailer frame is a 12 foot by 5-1/2 foot rectangle. The sides and tongue are 2" x 3" rectangular tubing with five 3" C-channel cross members. There are 6 rack bars per trailer made from welding 1/4" x 2" bar stock segments welded to the center of 1" square tubing. Galvanizing cost $53 per trailer and rack set. The box is 12 feet long by 5-1/2 feet wide and 3-1/4 feet tall. It weighs about 1400 lbs empty and 1560 lbs with three boards, 7 sails, 4 booms, and other miscellanea. Each trailer required close to 200 person-hours and $2000 dollars to complete (150 hours and $600 over budget). The tongue weight (w/o the front loaded with coolers or camping gear) was set to be around 45 lbs by proper placement of the axles (dumb luck).

Read about how it handles Cape Hatteras sand, if you like.

Photos

A few photos of the (never) finished trailer:

Following are photos of the projects taken during construction. Note: two trailers were being constructed at the same time, so the quantities shown in some of the photos may include materials for two trailers.

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Contact bil (kleb@geocities.com) or rob (lscott@widowmaker.com) with questions.

Last modified: Mon Mar 22 21:50:33 EST 1999